In the letter, Cruz said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
should examine the proposal from Texas Attorney General Greg
Abbott. Cruz argued the proposal would allow Texas to take
"decisive action" to help prevent thousands of unaccompanied
minors from flowing over the border.

Abbott, a Republican who is currently running for governor, asked
Johnson for $30 million in border-security resources last week.
Border Patrol in Texas has recently reported a 92% increase in
minors being apprehended at the border.

"Preventing people from illegally immigrating to the United
States should be the primary purpose of Customs and Border
Protection," Cruz wrote in his letter. "And, although this
critical task is primarily a federal responsibility, Texas is
prepared to take action to gain control of our borders."

Every day, hundreds of children are crossing the border, mostly
making their way from violence-stricken areas in Honduras,
Guatemala, and El Salvador. The causes for this influx are
many, but a large portion are children fleeing increased drug and
gang violence.

In his letter, Cruz attributed the flood of people illegally
crossing the border to the Obama administration's immigration
policies, which he characterized as an "outright refusal to
enforce the law."

"The Obama Administration’s outright refusal to enforce the law
is causing chaos for those of us who live and work in border
states that must deal with the surge of immigrants who are
illegally arriving each day," Cruz wrote.

The influx of immigrants have overwhelmed Border Patrol resources
in the Rio Grande area, causing many migrants to be sent to
processing facilities in Texas and Arizona. However, most of the
detention facilities are not designed for long-term residency,
creating a nightmare situation for officials trying to relieve
the backlog — and for the immigrants who find themselves living
in overcrowded, run-down conditions

The full text of Cruz's letter is below:

Dear Secretary Johnson:

Each day, hundreds of unaccompanied children enter the United
States after being handed to dangerous human smugglers. Along the
way, those children are sometimes abused, sometimes sold into
prostitution, sometimes recruited by drug cartels, and sometimes
even killed. Those who make it are now being housed in United
States military installations in Texas, California, and
Oklahoma.

While we are obligated to keep those children safe, we are
also obligated to stop more children from risking their own
safety and being forced into such a terrible
situation.

Without a doubt, the growing humanitarian crisis at our
border is a direct consequence of the Obama Administration’s
refusal to secure the border. Children are pushed into the hands
of criminals because the Obama Administration has made it clear
to the world that any child who arrives, regardless of whether
they are granted formal legal status, will be permitted to stay
in the United States.

The Obama Administration’s outright refusal to enforce the
law is causing chaos for those of us who live and work in border
states that must deal with the surge of immigrants who are
illegally arriving each day. When last we spoke at the Senate
Judiciary Committee in June, I was disappointed that you were
unwilling to acknowledge how the Administration’s policies have
contributed to the crisis.

For decades now, Congress has mandated that the federal
government secure the border, and yet the number of persons
arriving illegally in the United States has grown from around 8.5
million in 2000 to around 11.5 million today.

As the Department of Homeland Security is aware, 1,918
individuals from special interest countries were apprehended on
the southwest border between FY2006 and FY2011, and according to
the Texas Department of Public Safety, six of the eight major
Mexican drug cartels have command and control networks operating
in the state.

We have seen the rise of drug cartels that make between $19
billion and $29 billion annually from U.S. drug sales, and one
study has estimated that some 10,000 women from southern and
central Mexico are trafficked to the northern border region
annually to be sexually exploited.

Last year Border Patrol rescued 2,346 people in danger,
encountered 461 assaults, and sifted the rubble of 445 senseless
deaths.

I am writing to urge your full consideration of Texas
Attorney General Greg Abbott’s letter of June 12, 2014, in which
he proposed the State of Texas be empowered to take decisive
action to secure the southwest border during the present crisis
brought on by the arrival of roughly 50,000 unaccompanied minor
children.

Preventing people from illegally immigrating to the United
States should be the primary purpose of Customs and Border
Protection. And, although this critical task is primarily a
federal responsibility, Texas is prepared to take action to gain
control of our borders.

Should it be determined that implementation of this proposal
would require action by Congress, I stand ready and willing
to do my part to protect our citizens and prevent any more
children from falling into the hands of notorious human smugglers
who often kidnap, rape, abuse, and murder them.

To that end, I request a prompt response detailing your
thoughts on Attorney General Abbott’s proposal.